The middle stage of tournaments
The middle stage of tournaments is when you will be familiar with your table, and can start to pick up pots with nothing. You will still want to be playing in position and getting the max return for your big pairs, but also this is the time when the blinds are starting to escalate and some players can become a bit restless. Picking off people in bluffs is most common in this stage of the tournament because some players will start to open up their game a lot more than others will and ultimately make a run at trying to cash in the tournament. If you can sit back more than others are at your table you can find spots to pick up a lot of chips and make it an easier run to cash in the tournament.
At this point in the tournament you do not want to be playing for all of your chips before the flop unless you are drastically short stacked. This point is where you can sit back and pick off bluffs. You know the players at your table by know and if they are playing conservative or if they are playing tight. The best strategy for you is to find a median between these players and pick off the aggressive players winning big pots, and play small pots against the players that are perceived to be tight. When you can find the correct hands to play in certain situations you will be able to progress through the tournament and make it easier on yourself when the money bubble is coming around.
Applying pressure to your opponents and not on yourself is a major focus at this stage of the tournament. So, playing pots in position will get you to where you want to be. Feed off the weak players at your table and stay away from the aggressive players unless you have a big hand to play. If you are playing pots out of position at this stage of the tournament you will not be as successful as if you were playing pots in position. When you can apply the most pressure in every situation you will collect the greatest return having a higher fold equity to be collected, and if you do have hands then you will get paid off more times than not.
As the middle stage of a tournament is nearing its end and the bad players are starting to die out you will see yourself around better players. So, your strategy should change slightly when the middle stage is coming to its end. When you are playing against hungry players you will see them start stacking off in some pots applying the most pressure. To counter players who have the want for a big stack you can sit back and wait for hands a little more if your stack is big enough. If your stack is short you should try and pick some spots to race hands that you perceive to be even money. But, your goal by this point in the tournament is to have enough chips where you don’t need to win races yet. You should not be gambling with middle pairs just yet, but rather picking spots wisely and seeing where you can collect a large amount of chips with less risk.
